Courts Act, 1981
|
Power of courts to order payment of interest on awards. |
22.—(1) Where in any proceedings a court orders the payment by any person of a sum of money (which expression includes in this section damages), the judge concerned may, if he thinks fit, also order the payment by the person of interest at the rate per annum standing specified for the time being in section 26 of the Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1840 , on the whole or any part of the sum in respect of the whole or any part of the period between the date when the cause of action accrued and the date of the judgment. | |
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section— | ||
(a) shall authorise the giving of interest on interest, or | ||
(b) shall apply in relation to any debt upon which interest is payable as of right whether by virtue of any agreement or otherwise, or | ||
(c) shall affect any damages recoverable for the dishonour of a bill of exchange, or | ||
(d) shall authorise the giving of interest in respect of a period before the passing of this Act, or | ||
(e) shall authorise the giving of interest on damages for personal injuries, or in respect of a person's death, in so far as the damages are in respect of— | ||
(i) any loss occurring after the date of the judgment for the damages, or | ||
(ii) any loss (not being pecuniary loss) occurring between the date when the cause of action to which the damages relate accrued and the date of the said judgment. | ||
(3) In this section— | ||
“damages for personal injuries” includes damages for personal injuries arising out of a contract; | ||
“pecuniary loss” means loss in money or money's worth, whether by parting with what one has or by not getting what one might get; | ||
“personal injuries” includes any disease and any impairment of a person's physical or mental condition; | ||
“proceedings” includes proceedings to which the State or a State authority (within the meaning of the Act of 1961) is a party. |